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About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2008)
2008 Tennis Teams move into TRL play with league title in sight KELSEY SCHRADER 4 » Staff Reporter The tennis team s opened their seasons w ith m atches against som e o f the best squads in the state w ith im pressive victories and hard-fought losses. The girls began the season w ith a tough 5-3 loss to Beaverton. Victories w ere posted from the second doubles team of C atherine Broadhurst and Taylor C ornel, juniors, along w ith w ell-fought losses from their num ber ones. A t singles, D anika Tonning, junior, fell in a tough three set effort. Tonning, w ho placed fifth at State last year, fell to an opponent w ho reached the quarterfinals herself. A lthough the loss w as tough to swallow, she rem ained positive. "A m atch like this ju st helps m e prepare for State." Tonning said. "I w ant to b eat the best kids but I know it's going to be tough." The num ber one doubles team of A lix Sm ith, senior, and K ellie Kaw asaki, junior, also took their opponents to three sets before declaring victory. The girls took on Lakeridge next, one o f tw o other team s that w ill be com peting w ith W est Linn for the Three Rivers League title. The girls cam e out firing from the first point to last, as they dom inated Strong work habits guide Track Team's improvement M ax H ays have been Sydney Veenker, Staff Reporter freshman, in the 100 and in Strong work ethics the 200, Diana Crane, senior captain, in the 800, Danica and positive attitudes, are Jungerman, sophomore, in hallmarks of both the Boys' the 300 and 100 hurdles, and Mallory Griffith, sophomore, in the discus. " I feel that the workouts and progress of the team will lead to success during league meets and at Districts," Sarah Chicione and Amy Kestek, seniors, and Crane said. Danica Jungerman, sophomore, jump over The next hurdles in the 100 meter event. Both the boys’ home meet is on and girls' teams lost their first meet against Lake ]y[arch 30 against Oswego. Photo by Malia Chong Milwaukee at 4 and Girls' Track teams according to Joe Cemy, head coach, who said if the team continues to work hard they will be a competitive team in league meets. "Right now we are meeting and going beyond my expectations at the beginning of the season. We have a lot of newcomers who are contributing and learning how to compete at a high school level. We also have great veteran leaders," Cemy said. In the Lions Mar. 19 meet against Lake Oswego and Apr. 9 meet against Clackamas, the girls' and boys' teams came up short, but won the Sisters Invitational meet at Sisters on Apr. 5. Overall, the season has been good for the Lions and many athletes have turned in personal records. Individually this season, the boys have seen great performances from Michael Bemert, senior captain, in the 1500 and 800, Ben Morrow, senior captain, in the 3000, Justin McKee, freshman, in the 400, Mitch Gaulke, junior, and Tommy Patrick, senior, in the discus, and Jacob Gianuzzi, sophomore, in the javelin and 100 . For the girls, top performers p.m. Districts will be held on May 14 and 16 at Clackamas High School. the Pacers 7-1. The top players for the Lions scored easy victories, as w ell as w ins from the doubles team s of K atherine M illage, junior, and Lisa Kirkem o, sophom ore. "Being on this year's experienced their first victories on the year, as the team im proved its record to 1-0 w ith a victory over the W arriors. The Lions kicked off the m atch w hen Collin Bundy, senior, and Bret W right, junior, w on at Danika Tonning, junior, waits for a shot during her singles match against Lakeridge. Tonning won her match 6-0,6-0, leading her team to a 7-1 victory. Photo by Chelsea Callas team has been a great experience," K irkem o said. "The team is full of am azingly talented players, and it's ju st an aw esom e thing to be a part of." The girls team continued their dom inance in league, sw eeping past M ilw aukie, Putnam and O regon City, all w ithout losing a single m atch. This sets up a show dow n at hom e against Lake O sw ego, a team that h a s y e t to lo se th is year, it w ill be played today at 4 p.m. The boys' team faced a tough non-league schedule as w ell, as they took on Beaverton, C leveland and Sunset, all of w hom are expected to send m ultiple players to State this year. A gainst Cleveland, the m ajority of the team first doubles 2-6, 6-2,10-7. M iles Rifkin, junior, put the team further ahead w ith a 7-5, 6-2 victory at second singles. The team also picked up w ins from the tw o freshm en on the team. Andrew Brow n, freshm an, w on at fourth singles 6-3, 6-4, w hile Ken Tsuruta, freshm an, paired up w ith Blake Beehler, junior, to w in at fourth doubles 6-3, 6-2. "It's cool to be on the te a m as a fre sh m a n ," Tsuruta said. "Every time. I w in it's not necessarily expected, so it's a good position to be in for me." The boys final w arm up prior to TRL play w as against Sunset, a team that is ranked in the top 10 in state. The m atch got off to a bad start, as the Lions lost three of their first four m atches. The lone w in cam e at second doubles, w here Sam Tingey and Ryan N esbit, juniors, squeaked out a 6-2, 0 -6 ,1 0 -8 victory despite som e controversial line calls. Shortly thereafter, rain forced the team s to postpone the match. The boys opened their TRL cam paign against a solid Lakeridge team , and fell behind before they even took the court w hen Rifkin had to pull out due to a pinched nerve in his back. W hile this required the m ajority of singles players to play one position up from norm al, C hristopher Erbin, junior, w as the lone singles player w ho did not need to m ove up a spot due to Rifkin's injury, and w on 6-2, 6-3. The rest of singles struggled to step up, as they all fell in close matches. The Lions fought back in doubles however, led by the efforts of Bundy /Wright, w ho w on their m atch 6-4, 6-2. The Lions w ent on to sweep doubles, w hich tied the m atch at 4-4. The Lions fell in the tiebreaker though, putting them a step back to begin the season. The team responded, however, defeating Clackam as 5-3. The Cavaliers w ere predicted to take the TRL title this year, but the Lions proved they belong w ith the league's best, as the w in moved them back into a tie for first w ith Lakeridge "We cam e into this season w ith the goal of w inning league," W right said. "We have w orked hard and played w ell to rem ain in that position." ~Ton d e i Prom Special: West U hh ttigR ScikooC Students 1 . 2 . 3. $39 ~ 4 Level 2 Tans $89 ~ 4 Level 2 Tans and 1 Spray Tan or King $105 ~ 3 Month Special - Level 2 503-699-3386.19377 Willamette Drive. Next to the Linn City Pub www.tandelsolsalon.com